Chapter 3

The first and easiest was on fire. Literally, as an efreet wizard attempted to encase the great giant in molten copper, to immobilize and choke him, as ten other efreet armed with a plethora of edged weapons flew around him, earnestly trying to hack him apart, and six others employed great copper-strung bows and war magic against him. Kushlar took hit after hit and shrugged them off, only a few strokes managing to mar the comely bronze skin with blood and deep wounds, the great giant roaring with rage as he shook off molten metal and cleaved two of his much smaller tormentors apart with a blazing greataxe larger than either. In full battle rage, he annihilated the bounty hunters who had foolishly closed with him with a cold, calculating fury and frightening speed, unbothered by arrows or spells since I'd slain the seven wiser efreet who'd kept their distance with a single precise coneblast of ice, easily overcoming the Elemental Plane of Fire's distaste and resistance to casting water-aligned magics.

"And who might you be?" the bronze giant's deep voice questioned my presence. A huge, surprisingly handsome brute, he was shaved bald and clad in heavy breastplate of enchanted adamant, with powerful dwoemers issuing from belt and boots, lesser ones from rings and amulet.

"Your savior, if you are willing," I shifted back into my true form - only bigger, overmatching him in size by perhaps three feet, close enough to allow him to feel the weight of my divine aura. I quickly had to close tentacles about him to prevent the giant from toppling once he began reeling in awe, knees trembling.

I quenched my aura, frowning at the unanticipated response. Before I could offer further words, he bent fully down to his knees, "I am most willing to serve, great one, but know that by taking me in you will incur the wrath of the Sultan and Vizier..."

"Of the efreet, of the City of Brass, of course I know, and have enough powerful enemies that they are little more than ants to me, Kushlar," I touched him and restored him to full health with a small effort of will, knowing that I could only do so a very few times every day - goddess or not, I was not much of a healer.

The awe in his eyes took hold inside, and I felt the connection as I gained another worshipper. Smiling in pleasure, I raised him to his feet with a powerful surge of the tentacles still grasping him, reducing my size to match his - and leaned forward to kiss him on the lips, hot and hard.

"I am Lorathalis," I stepped back, amused at his gasp of astonished surprise and the hardly surreptitious attempt to adjust his crotch, "Princess of Demons, goddess of Power and Sorcery, Ambition and Success. I have slain and replaced the former demon prince," I refrained from uttering his name, more than willing to allow his memory to die with him, "and have need of generals to rule my armies and lands."

I'd overwhelmed him with repeated shocks, so the announcement did not rock him as badly as it would have, coming at him cold. He hesitated for the briefest of moments, wisely choosing to declare his loyalty and worship. I telekinetically retrieved every bit of magic the efreet had carried, gathered Kushlar in my arms, and shifted home, depositing on the ground near Bagromar.

The great demon was not startled, as I'd informed him beforehand of my impending arrival. One of the large demon-apes near him reacted before thinking things through, pouncing at me claws outstretched and mouth gaping open to expose an impressive array of jagged teeth, meeting an emerald ray of disintegration in midair, fading to dust before reaching me.

"This is Kushlar, Lord Bronze, my new general," I informed Bagromar. "Give him an army and instruct him - he shall answer to you for now."

I'd split my minds, allowing one to work on identifying the more powerful items I'd won, and gave Kushlar a pair of ioun stones to set in his amulet, explaining briefly, "Regeneration and sustenance," before vanishing.

I reappeared in another layer of the Abyss, Occipitus, whose demon lord and master, Adimarchus, had recently perished. An unusual layer even among the myriad strangenesses to be found in the Abyss, Occipitus contained a piece of Heaven, sacrificed to repulse a demonic invasion, the detritus of law and holy energies making the entire plane not entirely safe for demons - especially with the occasional roaming or imprisoned celestial. Few demons called it home and fewer yet visited, for it had a somewhat deserved reputation for being cursed. Of those who came, many sought to claim it for their own, to ascend and become a demon lord or merely own control a layer of the Abyss and call it home.

Aspertron the Flayer, once a great and mighty angel, a fallen Solar wholly consumed by wicked impulses, supposedly from a malign artifact he had destroyed, was far from the picture of beauty and grace he'd once been. Still a towering, heavily muscled humanoid figure with six ragged black wings, his metallic skin was splotchy as if with rust, his nose gone, an angry red wound oozing greyish-green pus taking its place. Armored in a night-black coat of umbral dragon scales, he bore a pair of vicious looking scourges which he twirled around as he leered at the figure below him on the ground, pinned like a butterfly on its back with spears thrust through the meat of wrists and shins. Her screams had fallen silent, as the tortured woman had lost consciousness.

Again, I was surprised by the ease of taking mastery of this powerful, dreadful being. Aspertron did not stand a chance, approaching at my mental command and bending neck to accept his silver collar. Just so, I had another great servitor, which rather than send to Tetradian for induction, I posted in Wat Dagon, a watchful guardian over Iggwilv's temporary abode. I had plans for her, and too many were aware of her location and incapacitation. It would not do for Malcanthet to steal her, or worse yet, free her. After attuning him to the prismatic sphere and alarm spell I'd erected, which would allow him a great advantage should he have to face battle in that chamber, and before sending him through the gate I conjured, I warned him to be ready for my call, for I would require his services soon against Abraxas.